New Flies for Fulling Mill..
A new season has begun. With it sees the start of my involvement with Fulling Mill. They got in touch with me about a year ago about filling some gaps in their range of flies to suit NZ rivers. I agreed to help. My fly design has always been about simplicity. I see no need for elaborate, time consuming flies. There are a few key features that are important and as long as these are met, the fly will work. For a nymph the most important features (or triggers) are size, profile and to a lesser extent colour. When tying for myself – usually the night before a trip – I’d rattle up a few flies to fit this bill. The colour often varied depending on my mood or whatever materials were at hand but the sizes and profiles rarely wavered. Tying for Fulling Mill I had to keep true to this and basically come up with some set patterns based on what I tie for myself. I got to work and 3 patterns were selected for the 2021 catalog. With these 3 patterns in my box I’m confident that I’d be covered for at least 75% of my own river nymphing needs. Add a few unweighted PT nymphs and your getting there! Of course theres always scope to add, adjust and improve as new ideas come along so hopefully I’ll add to this small collection in the future.
One thing that I really pushed for right from the start was to have the strongest hooks available used in my nymphs. There is nothing worse than losing a trout because a fly opens out. My patterns are tied on the very reliable Fulling Mill Competition Heavyweight hooks. The same gauge and shape as a Kamasan B175 which I have always raved about. I’ve been putting the samples to the test and have had no issues with these hooks.
Here’s an explanation of each fly and how it came to be.
The Hotspot Nymph. This fly was designed with a few things in mind. Firstly, the hot spot makes the fly stand out. Great for coloured water – a regular variable in NZ with frequent rain events. Secondly, depth. This fly is tied in a 10 and a 12 with a tungsten bead to suit. Great for getting down quickly in deep or fast water. Thirdly, as a carrier. Very often this fly is too big to catch wily NZ trout so I use it’s weight to get a smaller, more imitative fly to depth. Deadly in conjunction with my claret nymph in a size 16. I tie it on a 12″ dropper off the bend of the Hotspot nymph. This double nymph rig is usually fished 3 to 5 feet under a buoyant dry or indicator.
The Brown Nymph. My go-to nymph. This fly is tied for general use. If I’m not sure what to put on, I put this on! Tied in a 12 and a 14 it’s often small and imitative enough to to be fished without a trailing smaller nymph. This makes it easy to manage under my dry or indicator. This is a great imitation of common NZ mayfly nymphs but equally successuful as a general imitator of trout food.
The Claret Nymph. This is a multi purpose fly. Tied in a 14 and a 16 this fly is imitative of much of the food in a trouts diet. In slow water it can be fished singly but in faster water I usually trail it off a larger heavier fly to get it to depth. I have caught more fish on this fly in NZ than any other. On one river it has accounted for 5 double figure browns so this little fly is not to be underestimated. This is a deadly pattern on light tippet for spooky, difficult trout. It’s also one of my go-to flies to suspend under a dry for lake edge cruisers.
Some of you reading this might be thinking “what about caddis stuff”.. Fair thought! Personally I never get too excited about caddis flies. They are certainly part of a trouts diet but any of the nymphs mentioned above will catch a caddising trout. It comes back to size and profile. A fish that’s eating small brown caddis nymphs will eat a well presented small brown or claret nymph – even if the profile is geared slightly more towards mayfly nymphs. That said, there are times when specifics in a fly are important and with that comes the endless list of flies that you can add to your box!
These patterns are now available to buy on the Fulling Mill site. Click here to have a look! Hopefully you’ll put a few in your flybox for this brand new NZ season. I wish you the same success that I have had with them. Feel free to get in touch with any questions or feedback, I’d love to hear.
Plenty space available for guided trips this season! For those of you reading within NZ, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to drop me a line to get the ball rolling. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website
Tight Lines, Ronan..
Samples of my own patterns from Fulling Mill. 
Not much scope for river fishing with small nymphs over winter,
but I tried! Small fish but look at that face! One for the 16 claret nymph.
Jeff with a solid lake edge fish on the Hotspot Nymph. 
One on the brown nymph suspended under a dry on a lake edge. 
On this day I landed 5 for over 80lbs, One on the
Hotspot Nymph, the rest on my streamer.
Heavy enough to get to depth, visible enough in turbulent
water and strong enough to get the fish in the net! 15lbs.
10 sec timer shot before she goes back. More about this sureal day soon.. 
Opening day 2020! Out for one hour. The river high and coloured. 
Perfect for this fella! 
Hooked 3, landed 1. 
First of the season on the HT4. 
First brown of the season! I thought I was fishing to a 4lber but when I lifted the rod this magnificent 7lber jumped. 
Very happy with this.. 
Lunch! 
Then this! What a day.. Htspot nymph again. 
Then a day at the rainbows. This on the brown nymph. 
The brown nymph. This fly has accounted for
countless trout since my first trips to NZ.
Great fun, even in the gales.. 
Hotspot.. 
Angry 
Bright couours but well mended after spawning. 
I’m enjoying filling this up. 